|
November 11, 2002 |
|
About Town Dave Uphoff |
 |
|
Past Editorials
|
|
Click here
|
|
Links
|
|
Home About Minonk Alumni Cemetery Chatter box City Hall Community Ctr Events Genealogy History Homepages Issues Library Lost & Found Map News Photos Reference Satire Schools Search Stories |
|
History Links
|
|
Home Buildings Businesses Coal mine Early Settlers Ethnic Groups Origins People Old Photos Sports Stories Tragedies |
Veterans Day
|
Today is the day we remember the veterans who served our country and those who died for our country. Years ago
it was called Armistice Day but now is called Veterans Day. For many years Veterans Day celebrations became
less enthusiastic and patriotic because the memories of the great wars gradually receded from our collective
memory. The VietNam war was so unpopular it almost caused a backlash in celebrating Veterans Day.
With the advent of the terrorists attacks and with September 11 still fresh in our minds, I think that Veterans Day takes on a new meaning. We were jolted back into the realization that we will probably never be free from the need to guard our borders and protect our freedom from those who would take it away from us. I read an interesting statistic the other day about war casualties. In World War I about 15% of the casualties were civilians. In World War II the percentage was higher and in VietNam even higher. With the increased sophistication of weaponry and the less need for man to man combat, the civilian population has become more of a victim of war. If we ever go to war with Iraq, the Iraqi people will bear the brunt of the casualties. Our military might is so powerful that we could probably very easily kill 100,000 civilians just with bombing raids. Unfortunately, that prospect probably won't result in the capture of Sadam Hussein. Only door to door combat with our military will capture him. Are we ready to sacrifice American blood to that extent? The September 11 attack is probably the best example of civilian casualties. Over 2300 civilians were killed but no military personnel on duty were killed. So in effect, we as a people are becoming veterans in our own right. We are now engaged in a war with terrorists who for the most part are Muslims. We civilians are in a greater danger of being killed than is our military personnel in this type of warfare. This is a war that we all will be involved in for the rest of our lives. |
We civilians will participate in this new war. As new soldiers we must fight
to preserve our freedom in much the same way as our armed forces did in combat during previous wars. But our
weapons will not be guns or hand gernades. Our weapon must be our resolve to make our country stronger through
being actively involved in our nation's policy and by being active in our communities. This includes being involved in the political process to make sure that our
goals and ideals are pursued by those who we elect. This means that we should make every effort to educate
our children properly so that they are prepared to take over to help defend our country and carry on the American
ideals that made our country great. This means that we must make an effort to help those who are less fortunate
than us so that our country doesn't become divided between the haves and have nots.
The terrorists can only win through subversive efforts. Subversive efforts are much easier to succeed if our country is emcumbered with the downtrodden, the hopeless, and the ignorant. A good example of this is the recent sniper killings in the Washington, DC area. This deranged person converted to Muslim as his way of striking back at what he thought was unjust treatment from our system. It is imperative that we find some way to eliminate the disparities within our social system so that everyone will have equal reason to be grateful for being an American. The greed and excesses of the past 10 years must be replaced with a renewed committment to help make our country strong and unified. I am sure that people wonder why I continue to do this website for free. I really enjoy doing it and I get a lot of positive feedback from viewers of this website. Also, I do feel a need to perform a public service. I was called to service during the VietNam war. However, I failed my physical due to high blood pressure which I didn't realize that I had. Since I did not serve any time in the military, I felt that sooner or later I should devote some volunteer effort for my country. I chose to serve my local community. A good way to show your appreciation to the veterans who fought and died for our freedom is to become involved in your community. Help make a difference so that the freedom that our veterans died for was not in vain. |
